Conservation Areas in Harborough district - Horninghold Conservation Area

Horninghold village was extensively rebuilt between 1884 - 1913 as an estate village for T. A. Hardcastle. It was the work of J & H L Goddard of Leicester, a prominent local architectural practice. As a 20th Century estate village it is special. The well spaced houses sit in their own grounds and are far more substantial than agricultural cottages. The many trees within the village and gardens are a special characteristic of the village being mature hardwood and garden trees with a variety of specimen conifers. Tree Preservation Orders cover almost the whole of the Conservation Area. The houses nestle within the trees, above which the spire of the Church of St. Peter rises. There is one winding road through the village and a dead end lane opposite the Church. Wide verges and granite kerbs are a feature of these roads. The medieval church is set back, behind an open space fronting the former parsonage.

Most of the houses are estate houses and give examples of a wide variety of materials of styles for the period 1884-1913. Attention to detail and the picturesque are notable. Another feature is the care with which buildings are designed and placed within the village scene. The details are not just in stonework but extend to carved bargeboards and garden gates. The materials are ironstone with Collyweston slates or clay tiles, brick with tiles or slates. Orchard House (1913) by the Goddards is in brick with tile, but other buildings such as Tudor Cottage (the agent’s house) are in ironstone.

The variety of buildings, of comparable age for one estate and from one architectural practice; all set in mature wooded grounds alongside high granite kerbed roads gives the dominant character.

Horninghold Conservation Area map